What a weekend. I traveled non-stop from 8:30am on Friday to 8:30pm on Monday. Thanks, once again, to the endowment of Helen Bing, I enjoyed a free trip to Pablo Neruda´s house in Isla Negra on the Pacific coast followed by a visit to Pomaire, a pueblito (small town) known for its artisan market. I don't mean to diminish the talent of Neruda, but if I had the same view of the ocean that inspired many of his poems, I could probably produce a stanza or two. Don´t believe me? I´ve got the pictures to prove it.
Saturday started early. After a two hour flight north to Calama and an hour long bus ride to San Pedro de Atacama, my fellow travelers and I had a half day left to explore. We got right to it with a trip to Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley) where we learned to sandboard (like snow boarding but on sand...with much less cushion if you fall). We capped off the day by watching the sunset over Valle de la Luna (Moon Valle) Four days later (this morning), I was still washing sand out of my hair. Was it worth it? Yes. Will I do it again? Probably not.
The following day we spend several hours exploring the various parts of the driest desert in the world. I toured an Incan town with a group of tourists who quickly humbled me with their ability to speak two if not three or four languages fluently. Then we entered the salar (salt flat) where I admired two different types of flamingos from afar. We stayed just long enough to see the sunset over the mountains - a view even Neruda can't describe.
As if the sunsets and sand dunes weren't enough, my friends and I signed up for one more trip: el observatorio. At 12:00am we (sleepily) boarded a bus to an observatory in the mountains. The unique feature of this desert is that it sits between two mountain ranges and is therefore protected from any sort of precipitation or clouds. The air is so clear that from the salt flat that the mountains (or volcanoes in some cases) that seem fairly close a are actually a four or five hour car ride away. This climates makes for excellent stargazing.
With the help of the guides and some very powerful telescopes, I saw galaxies, shooting stars, nebula, constellations and even Jupiter. Did you know that the light we see coming the closest a star is actually eight years old because it takes that long to reach earth? It's like looking at the past...chew on that.
Well, I've certainly rambled on for long enough. Again, please send me an email to update me on your life. If you're reading this blog, it's mostly likely because we are friends, which means I have a vested interest in your well-being :).
Chau!
P.S. Here's the view from the plane.
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